Floor-supported, movable articles such as cabinets, carts and tables are widely used in industry and business such as by offices, airlines, restaurants and factories. Many such movable articles include four wheels to facilitate movement, with at least two of them being swiveling caster wheels to permit the article to be turned without lifting it or sliding some of the wheels sideways. It is generally known in the prior art to provide locking means for locking caster wheels both from turning and from swiveling. However, many of the locking means of the prior art do not perform well in certain situations.
In many instances, space requirements will require compact wheels and braking mechanisms, and may require a braking mechanism capable of being operated by one person from a position on one side of the cart remote from the side having the wheels which should be braked. In instances where space is not such a concern, a heavy or large movable article should be manageable by one person, which calls for an easy to operate, remote brake mechanism.
Some devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,942,608, 3,388,419 and 2,709,828, brake only one swiveling caster wheel at a time, with the actuating lever swiveling with the wheel, often making access to the lever inconvenient. Some devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,385,414, 4,248,445, 3,363,725, 3,159,865 and 3,057,638, are designed to brake several wheels at a time by having a central housing and operating along the vertical support of each wheel. Each involves complicated linkages, however, which requires special construction of the article above the location where the caster is located, so they are not easily adaptable to a variety of types of movable articles. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,526,253 and 4,360,951 disclose devices which brake several wheels at a time. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,534,987 discloses a simple, bottom-mounted caster brake assembly. However, this device brakes only one wheel at a time.
Heretofore, what was needed was a simple braking mechanism which would simultaneously brake both wheels which should be braked, whether they be fixed, swiveling or a combination of the two, which will apply substantially equal braking force to each wheel and which will do so from a location on the article remote from the wheels to be braked.